The pivot to the hard right

The world is at the mercy of a few technocrats and authoritarian rulers

Controlled  fire was perhaps one of the most defining moments in human evolution as the ability to cook food gave humans the massive surge in calories required to fuel a much larger and more complex brain (the human brain consumes about 25% of the body’s energy). It is postulated that fire allowed humans to bypass the metabolic limits which keeps the brains of other primates small. Richard Wrangham, professor of biological anthropology at Harvard University, brought this up in what is referred to as the ‘cooking hypothesis’.

In other words, the ancestor who developed the ability to build a ‘controlled fire’ was the inventor/scientist not only of his time but for all times. The opening line of the Rig Veda is, “Agnimile purohitam yajnasya devamrtvijam, hotaram ratnadhatamam” (Agni I adore, who stands before the Lord, the god who sees Truth, the warrior, strong disposer of delight). It is an invocation to Agni (the fire god), praising him as a mediator between humanity and divine energy. From the controlled fire and the cooking of food, human ingenuity made progress in discoveries and inventions.

Although the great scientists and explorers of the Middle Ages made phenomenal progress, the quantum jump was provided by the Industrial Revolution, which saw a tidal wave of human ingenuity and invention. It also gave rise to democratic movements across Europe. Literature blossomed alongside science.

The products of the Industrial Revolution were still very much under mankind’s control due to the development of democratic governance and institutions. These were liberal in nature until the German, Spanish and Italian states gave birth to dictatorships which emasculated the democratic institutions of these nations. However, through the First and Second World Wars, the democracies — with the overwhelming support of the people — prevailed.

This period also saw the next quantum jump — atomic energy that was unleashed on a world holding its breath. Fortunately, the world came together and set up institutions to keep this energy under control. Treaties were signed and honored by nuclear powers. So far, we have succeeded and used it mainly in a positive way. This has been made possible because of our democracies, liberal governments and institutions.

Today, as humanity develops artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computers, and as the two come together, they bring the strong possibility of a ‘sentient’ AI. Theoretically, it’s AI which is self-aware and capable of taking independent decisions. Are we once again at an inflection point…is humanity about to develop the next ‘controlled fire’? The challenge for the evolution of humanity along with technological evolution has always been in its ability to ‘control’ the fire it creates, for it brings havoc if not controlled. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster is a case in point, so are the questionable bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Similarly, many questions remain unanswered about the Covid-19 pandemic. I could go on about the misuse of technology, how humanity twists technological advancements developed for its benefit into weapons of mass destruction or control. For as we develop this advanced technology, we must keep in mind what Carl Sagan described as ‘technological adolescence’ characterized by humanity possessing tremendous world-altering power without the necessary wisdom or foresight to manage it safely.

Today, it must be noted that the pivot to the hard right is happening; it can be observed in the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement and in similar political activism in Europe, Asia, South America, etc. Our great technological advancement is coming at a time when liberalism in politics and government is giving way to the hard right. Liberal democracies and liberal economies are giving way to authoritarianism in politics and economics…the world order is reverting to the nation state.

Moreover, the ‘nation state’ is going in for a far more rigid form of government that is authoritarian. The effort is to maintain the facade of democratic elections and hollow the system from the inside. The Trojan horse of authoritarianism and protectionism has come through the gateway of elected governments. Plato critiqued democracy and saw it gradually decaying into a tyranny as power shifted to demagogues who were adept at manipulating the masses — there is much truth in this if we neglect our institutions and bring down the checks and balances of power. The centrist, liberal ideology has been pushed back by the tidal wave of a dogmatic right.

Coupled with these developments is the urgent, almost immediate rearmament and the rise of the defense budgets of most countries of Europe, Asia, etc. This requires a shift from developmental economics to the rearmament of the developing and the developed world. The benefits of this go to the vast military-industrial complex. Today, budgets are being tailored for rearmament, the nuclear treaties being made null and void and nuclear arsenals being replenished… all this points to a disaster in the making. It has already started with wars erupting in various locations across the world.

Add to this the emergence of AI and you have a world at the mercy of a few technocrats and authoritarian rulers. Institutions such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Disarmament Commission and other organizations under the United Nations (UN) helped create a systemic check on the development and use of nuclear energy.

However, AI is a developing technology which is moving at a very rapid pace and is capable of bringing far-reaching changes and disruptions; it is currently without any systemic controls. The immediate need is for countries to get together to face this onslaught of AI and introduce a system of checks and balances which, if not done, can lead to a situation where AI can become an ‘uncontrolled fire’.

(Gurbachan Jagat is a  former Governor, Manipur & DGP, Jammu & Kashmir)